Brisbane QLD, Australia, 28 June 2017 | Millie Campbell

The first thing that strikes you about Kim Birrell is her nature. It’s friendly, warm, genuine and leaves you smiling from ear to ear. Off court, she loves spending time with friends, at the beach, and reading. At face value, it’s hard to imagine the 19 year old possessing the fierce competitive spirit so necessary in professional tennis, yet there’s no doubt she does.

Before injury sidelined her for the better part of 2016, Birrell was finding her feet on the women’s circuit. A competitive first round Australian Open match against tenth seed Karolina Pliskova was followed by a call up to represent Australia in the Fed Cup.

Birrell laughs as she recalls her singles debut at the Australian Open, admitting she didn’t know much about Pliskova, despite the Czech being tenth seed.

“I guess I didn’t know her then… she was still tenth seed so I saw that number and I thought she’s obviously that ranking for a reason.”

She says it wasn’t until the night before the match that nerves started setting in.

“The schedule comes out at 5pm every day and is three pieces of paper. First page is show courts and stadiums, so I skipped over that, and then I was reading the last two papers and I couldn’t see my name…So I turned back to the first page and saw I was on Hisense arena and that freaked me out more than who I was playing,” she laughs.

It was a competitive match, 6-4 6-4, and Birrell had her chances, including an early break in the second set. But a month later, an elbow injury saw her forced to rest for eight months. At the time of her injury, Birrell was ranked 275; a place she’s determined to get back to by giving herself plenty of time and a little self-kindness.

“At the moment I’m in a situation where I spent most of last year out due to injury, so I didn’t have much expectation coming back.”

Kim’s playing career was destined from a young age. Born into a tennis loving family in Germany, her family relocated to the Gold Coast when she was three years old when her father was offered the role as Head Coach of Pat Cash’s tennis academy.

“I’m pretty sure the first thing my dad did when I was born was put a tennis racquet in my hand,” she laughs.

“Whatever I could play I just joined in. Probably nine and under was my first time competing.”

Birrell was playing Nationals at 12 years old when she met players like Priscilla Hon, Lizette Cabrera and Olivia Tjandramulia; all of them ranked inside Australia’s top 20, and still incredibly close friends.

“It was a tough age group…I guess there was something in the water at that time I don’t know,” she laughs.

“We all played Bruce Cup and Queensland State at the end of the year and we all smashed everyone, we are all super competitive…but as soon as we come off court we are really close friends and support each other.”

Growing up, Birrell was inspired by fellow Queenslander Sam Stosur. A young Kim couldn’t believe her luck when Stosur would agree to hit with her during trips home to the coast.

“She used to come home to her parents on the Gold Coast in the holidays just before the Aussie Open at Christmas time, and she would always have a little hit with me,” she remembers.

Fast forward ten years, and an 18-year-old Birrell was called into the Australian Fed Cup team where she played alongside her long-time mentor.

“I will always look up to Sam and now I’ve got to play alongside her at Fed Cup it’s made me appreciate what she’s done for Australian tennis – girls’ tennis – even more seeing how hard she works. She motivates me to be a role model for younger girls as well.”

More recently, one of Kim’s favourite moments on court was playing doubles against Stosur in the first round of the Australian Open this year. She played with close friend and fellow Queenslander Priscilla Hon.

“When we first saw the draw we were like ‘you’ve got to be kidding.’ Sam is one of the best doubles players ever’,” she laughs.

“But we had a plan going out there. Neither of us were playing singles so we actually spent a whole week doing doubles drills, which is something we hardly ever get to do so we were really familiar with each other.”

It was a match that ended up going to three sets, with Birrell and Hon unlucky not to make it through.

“Even though we lost we came off and looked at each other and said that was so much fun,” she recalls.

A player who’s had a more recent impact on Birrell is Brisbane’s Ash Barty. While the 20 year old’s recent success on court is nothing short of inspiring, Birrell says Barty’s decision to take a break impresses her just as much.

“I really admire her ability to say I need a break and to focus on other things.

“That’s something I’ve learned in the last year being injured, you need stuff outside tennis and she recognised that. After having bit of time off and coming back she’s found her passion and love again and she’s doing so well,” she said.

For Birrell, having almost a year off has helped give her some perspective. Last year she enrolled in a double university degree, studying Communications, Public Relations and Business.

“I realise now it’s possible, so many girls are doing it – studying and playing – doing professional sport at the same time.”

It’s a delicate balance, and one the teenager is giving herself plenty of time to master. But key to it all is managing expectations; not applying too much pressure to get back to where she was in 2016.

“I’ve had to really manage that and remember that I had a lot of time off last year. This year is about building and each tournament I want to improve in each of the goals that I’ve set, I can’t be super focused on results.”